Atlanta 2, Detroit 1: the first races are catastrophic

The middle game of a three-game series in Atlanta saw the Tigers fall quietly 2-1 on Tuesday night. In the process, they lost their fourth consecutive series and will be in rescue mode on Wednesday afternoon.

Casey Mize made his fourteenth start of the season for the Tigers. He’s been struggling lately; in four starts from May 21 to June 8 (15 ⅓ IP), he allowed 30 hits, allowed 17 runs (14 earned), walked eight and struck out seven. He turned things around in his previous start, a six-inning, four-hit, one-run outing against the Nationals, but no one this year accused Washington of being the second coming of the 1927 Yankees.

Saginaw Michigan’s Spencer Schwellenbach made his fourth career start for Atlanta. He is a 24-year-old right-hander, 6’1″ (185 cm) tall who was primarily an infielder at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, started dabbling in throwing during the Covid layoff, recovered from Tommy John surgery for all of 2022. after being drafted in 2021, started this season at High-A Rome, made two starts at double-A, and here he is among the big buildings All. a story.

Mize fooled no one in the first inning as a single, triple and single put the home team up 2-0 through the first three batters – and that was all Atlanta would get or would need all night. Mize righted the ship and got himself out of further trouble, but the Tigers dug themselves a hole right outside the door.

The bottom of the second didn’t start much better than the first: an errant pitch from Gio Urshela and a single bunt put the first two batters on board. But then a flyout to center, a strikeout and a 13-pitch battle with Ozzie Albes, ending with another flyout to center but featuring Seven consecutive foul balls, ended the game.

One had to wonder how long Mize could last, having to use 54 pitches to get through two innings; there wasn’t much swing-and-miss in those throws, either. Meanwhile, Schwellenbach was having a very boring time on the mound, throwing five or six different pitches and limiting hard contact of any kind. He would end up striking out a career-high seven.

Mize calmed down in the third and fourth, but after the fourth his pitch count was up to 87 and he was pretty exhausted. It was relieved for Beau Brieske to start the fifth, who himself made a nice 1-2-3.

Riley Greene led off the top of the sixth with a triple of his own, and with one out, Urshela singled to the left side to plate Greene and cut the lead to 2-1.

Brieske also went 1-2-3 in the sixth and walked the leadoff batter of the seventh before giving way to Andrew Chafin. After a few bumpy outings, the last time Chafin made an appearance he struck out, and this time he retired the first two batters he faced. He stayed in to get the first out of the eighth, then Will Vest took over and struck out the next two batters.

Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias entered the game for the ninth and he was…well, dammit, he was lights out.

The Tigers will try to avoid the sweep Wednesday afternoon.

Framed score: Atlanta 2, Detroit 1

This one stings.

One of the greats has died.

I hope it’s not the end of the season

I looked up “avulsion” and according to the NIH it is a “bone failure in which a bone fragment is torn from its main body by attached soft tissues.” Yeah.

Remarks and observances

• In seven games (30 PA, 27 AB) before tonight’s game, Mark Canha was hitting .340, had 10 hits, including two doubles, and swiped a pair of walks. Mind you, his BAbip was a furious .435, so there was quite a bit of luck involved in this small sample.
• Canha has an Instagram account where he reviews various dishes, from the most gourmet to the not so gourmet, during his travels in North America.
• The Tigers entered tonight four games under .500, which was the lowest of the season to that point. They lost five games under tonight, as you can imagine.
• The name Spencer Schwellenbach reminds me of the eponymous Kate Schellenbach, a drummer who was an original member of the Beastie Boys before they became famous and a founding member of Luscious Jackson.
• Also RIP to Noam Chomsky. Many years ago I watched the documentary version of the book he co-wrote, Manufacturing Consent, and it fundamentally changed the way I saw the world. So if you meet me and wonder why I am the way I am, well, that’s a big part of the problem.
• On this day in 1812, the United States declared war on the United Kingdom, thus starting the War of 1812. Naturally, your neighbors to the north (or south, if you’re in Detroit) were somehow part of the United Kingdom at the time. time, so we got sucked into it. Instead, we like to point out that British forces (including some proto-Canadians) ransacked the US Capitol and burned down the White House; it was a retaliation for the burning of York (now Toronto) the previous year. Who won? No one really knows, but I guess it was for fun. No hard feelings, eh?